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THE BIBLE SIGMFICANCE 
OF EAST AND WEST 



OR 



IS THE DAWN APPEARING 



BY 
ROBERT CHRISTY TOTTEN 



A Discovery in Bible Symbolism 



1907 

THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA 



LidrtAWY of CONGRESS 
I Wo Coole? Received 

OCT 10 '30f 

Conynjrhi Entry 

CLASS A XXCu No, 
COPY B. 






^ 



Copyright 1907 by 

EOBEET C. TOTTEX 



Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, 

1907 

BY Robert C. Totten 



All Rights Reserved 

for sale in France and Germany, including also 

the rights of translation into all languages 



TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. 

De Quincy suggests that, " He who reveals a 
body of truth to a candid and willing auditory 
is content with the grand simplicities of truth 
in the quality of his proofs. And truth when 
it happens to be of a high order is generally 
its own witness to all who approach it in the 
spirit of childlike docility." It is hoped that 
you, the Reader, whether you be Protestant, 
Roman Catholic, or Hebrew, will approach this 
book in this spirit. This is in no sense a de- 
nominational Book, and has to do only with 
Historical and Geographical facts. Scientific men 
ask for facts. Here are Geographical and His- 
torical facts proving the Inspiration of the Scrip- 
tures and the doctrine of the Atonement. 

R. C. T. 
Pittsburg, January i6th, 1907. 



INTRODUCTION 

There are Seven Holy Places mentioned in 
the Scriptures. These seven places in their order, 
extending from Genesis to Revelation are: 

Garden of Eden 

Bethel 

The Tabernacle 

Holy Land 

The Temple 

Holy City 

The New Jerusalem 

It is characteristic of all these places that they 
were so located with reference to East and West 
that those who departed from them went with 
their faces to the East and those who entered 
them, entered with their faces to the West. The 
discovery set forth in this book is, that taken 
with these facts, the prophecy in the last Chapter 
of the Old Testament that '' The Sun of Right- 
eousness should arise w^ith healing in His wings," 
has been fulfilled in the past, and is being ful- 
filled in the present in the spread of the gospel 
from East to West; that this progress has been 
strictly on longitudinal lines, that the circuit is 
nearly completed, and that " The Dawn is ap- 
pearing." 



CHAPTER ONE 

THE GARDEN OF EDEN 

Genesis 2, 8 to 12. 

" And the Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden ; 
and there He put the man whom He had formed. 

" And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow 
every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for 
food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, 
and the tree of Knowledge of good and evil. 

" And a river went out of Eden to water the garden ; 
and from, thence it parted and became four heads. 

" The name of the first is Pison, that is it which com- 
passeth the whole land of Hivalah, where there is gold. 

'* And the gold of that land is good, there is Bdellium 
and the onyx stone." 

Genesis 3, 24. 
" So He drove out the man ; and He placed at the east 
of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword 
which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of 
life.'^ 



THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 
OF EAST AND WEST 

CHAPTER ONE 

THE GARDEN OF EDEN 

THE description of Eden as given in the 
opening Chapter of Genesis carries with 
it the conviction that the author of it had 
in mind a very definite locaHty. It had a river 
to water it, with four streams flowing probably 
in different directions — it was not without its 
gold and precious stones, in all these respects 
answering to the description of the Paradise of 
the Revelation with its golden streets and walls 
and gates of precious stones. It was not want- 
ing in " every tree that is pleasant to the sight 
and good for food," and just as in that upper 
and better country — there was the " tree of life 
which bare twelve manner of fruits." But with 
all this fulness of description there is nothing 
whereby we can localize it. It is not bounded 
on the north or on the south or on the west ; and 
yet strange to say it is expressly narrated that 

9 



10 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

the Garden was " eastward in Eden," and that 
when Adam and Eve were driven out on account 
of their sin of unbehef and disobedience, it is 
definitely recorded that the Lord God, '' placed 
at the East of the Garden of Eden, Cherubim, 
and a flaming sword which turned every way, 
to keep the way of the tree of life." 

In the very beginning then of the history of 
our race the East becomes the objective quarter. 
No mention is made of the other points of the 
compass, suggesting the idea of design on the 
part of the Holy Spirit by whom the revelation 
was given. If design be a good evidence in 
the argument for proving the existence of an 
Intelligent and Wise Creator, where we are con- 
sidering the works that He has made, is it not 
equally a good evidence in proving the authen- 
ticity and inspiration of the Revelation which 
the Holy Spirit has given, and if it is found 
to be true that this idea of the East, as an ob- 
jective point runs through the Scriptures, woven 
into their warp and woof, like a golden thread 
from Genesis to Revelation; will it not tend to 
confirm our faith in the revealed truth that the 
one who gave this Revelation, saw the " end 
from the beginning? " 

Professor Tayler Lewis has suggested that 
Jehovah might have written the revelation of 
Himself and of the duty required of man, in 
shining letters upon the blue vault of the heaven 



OF EAST AND WEST ii 

above us, and it would seem, as the further study 
of our subject will show, that although the Holy 
Spirit has chosen to make this Revelation mainly 
through the words of Holy men " who spoke as 
they were moved by the Holy Spirit," that He 
has also written it in what might be termed the 
wonderful arrangement and location of cities and 
lands and even buildings, and in the movements 
of men and nations. 

But to return to the location of Eden and its 
gate upon its eastern boundary, through which 
our sad progenitors were driven bearing their 
guilt and shame. The suggestion of a gate 
carries with it that of a walled enclosure. Mil- 
ton very beautifully suggests that there was 
really what we would call a hedge, but composed 
of trees of magnificent proportions. 

" Verduons walls of Paradise." 

The way of return was prevented by the 
Cherubim a name that we do not meet with again 
in the Scripture until we come to the description 
of the Holy of Holies in the newly erected Tab- 
ernacle, and strange to say we find them there in 
precisely the same position so far as the East is 
concerned, and in connection with a " luminous 
presence " of Jehovah very suggestive of this 
" flaming sword which turned every way " at the 
eastern entrance to Eden. May we not say too, 
that there also they w^ere guarding an entrance. 



12 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

for no one but the High Priest and he but once 
a year might enter the Holy of HoHes and '' not 
without blood, which he offered for himself, and 
for the errors of the people; the Holy Ghost 
thus signifying that the way into the holiest of 
all was not yet manifest;" just as the Cherubim 
and the flaming sword at the gate of Eden clearly 
showed that the way to the tree of life was 
barred against the unbelieving and the disobe- 
dient. 

How long Adam and Eve and their pros- 
perity remained in view of the Cherubim and the 
flaming sword is not revealed. 

Keble beautifully suggests, 

" Therefore in sight of man bereft. 

The happy garden still was left 
The fiery sword that guarded, showed it too, 

Turning all ways, the world to teach. 
That though, as yet beyond our reach. 

Still in its place the tree of life and glory grew.'* 

Farther along in the history it is said of Cain, 
" And Cain went out from the presence of the 
Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the East 
of Canaan." The " presence of the Lord " nat- 
urally suggests the heavenly appearances and 
the shining sword, and no doubt any revelations 
Adam received as to the offering of sacrifices 
were given to him in this Presence. While 
there was that " fear of the Lord which is the 
beginning of Wisdom," that led him now to de- 



OF EAST AND WEST 13 

sire to obey all the commands which he was 
given under his new circumstances, there was 
also that natural fear of the great unknown that 
lay in unexplored stretches beyond him, ever to- 
ward the East, which no doubt resulted in his 
remaining where the " presence of the Lord " 
could be seen. Not so with Cain. After the 
slaying of his brother, the " presence of the 
Lord " was a far more fearful thing than the 
howling wastes of the unknown country that 
lay beyond him. To him " God had become a 
consuming fire," and he was prepared to bear 
any danger rather than abide His presence; and 
he therefore went still farther east, where the 
Cherubim and the flaming sword could not re- 
mind him of his Judge. 

Although we cannot in any way discover the 
boundaries of Eden, it is very evident from the 
history we have been considering that it was a 
definite portion of our globe, and that the world 
to the east of it was of sufficient extent to con- 
tain the populations of the globe for two thou- 
sand years or until the time of Noah. That the 
East thus became the reverse of Eden, or that 
which was west of its Eastern Gate, and that 
not only in a symbolical sense, but also a real 
one the farther men went like Cain, in this di- 
rection, the farther they removed from good in- 
fluences, and the more they expressed a desire 
to flee from the " presence of the Lord." Al- 



14 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

though God was never without a witness among 
them and always had a people to serve Him, 
yet men became more and more worshipers of 
idols. The continued cry of Noah and all who 
like him had a message from Jehovah, was to 
repent of their wanderings and to return to Him 
and He would have mercy upon them, and the 
certainty of His fulfilling His promises, and of 
the immutability of His purposes. He has left 
on record not only in the Scriptures but has also 
symbolically stamped it upon the very face of 
nature. 

For we must not forget that however impos- 
sible it is for men to locate the bounds of Eden 
*' all things are possible with God," and it is 
only reasonable to suppose that He not only 
knows the present bounds of Eden, but it is not 
irreverent even, to believe that these bounds have 
more than once been the scene of many a won- 
derful manifestation, that in the ages to come 
will attract the wondering attention of the Saints. 
If He could so order it that two thousand years 
after Abraham offered up Isaac on Mount Mo- 
riah, He also would cause His own Son there to 
be offered, why should we doubt that in many 
of the scenes that have already been enacted in 
carrying out His promise to Eve in Eden, the 
very locality in which the transgression was con- 
summated, has been and will yet be, the theater 



OF EAST AND WEST 15 

of His manifestations not only to men but to the 
heavenly hosts as well. 

The Seven Holy Places of Scripture all have 
the Characteristic of the Garden of Eden, that 
is they all face East. Each has its suggestions, 
but all manifest a uniform design. Before the 
time of our Savior, the attention of mankind was 
directed mainly toward the East, and it was not 
until the star that led the wise men from the 
East, faded from sight in the more glorious ris- 
ing of the " Sun of Righteousness," that the at- 
tention of men was drawn to the West, and that 
they experienced themselves and saw transpir- 
ing before their eyes, as the influences of the gos- 
pel spread toward the West " beginning at Je- 
rusalem," the verification of the promised " heal- 
ing in His wings." The healing of that old 
wound by which the race was led away from 
Eden toward the East. The opening of the way 
to the " tree of life " made free with no " inter- 
vening Cherubim or flaming sword. Surely 
such an investigation challenges our attention 
and enlists our warmest sympathies. 

But we must not fail to observe that there Is 
associated with this Eastern Gate of Eden the 
fact of sacrifice, and that this is also true of all 
Holy places we meet with in the sacred story. 
The account of the offering by Abel of the " first- 
lings of his flock " implies the revelation to 
Adam, as well as to Abel of the value of such 



i6 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

sacrifices and that this that Abel offered was not 
the first. Adam had no doubt as the father of 
the family acted also as its priest in this re- 
spect. The sinful pride of Cain consisted in 
ignoring an express command; in refusing to 
obtain from his brother a lamb from his flock; 
and in insisting on offering that which was the 
fruit of his own toil. Thus early in the history 
of our race, we have it proclaimed and empha- 
sized that " without the shedding of blood there 
is no remission," and as we will see in the fur- 
ther development of our subject every holy place, 
is intimately connected with this idea. 

But while the Gate of Eden thus stood for the 
true worship and where the worshiper stood 
with his back to the East, the East into which 
Cain wandered has ever since been the represen- 
tation of false worship. No doubt the tradition 
of the " flaming presence " remained among 
Cain's descendants, and in this we have perhaps 
the origin of that oldest of false worships, the 
adoration of the Sun. The " High places " 
where idol worship was first carried on were 
chosen because there the first rays of the rising 
Sun were seen. From the worship of the Sun 
there naturally followed the worship of Fire, 
as the nearest approach to the luminary of day, 
and from the desire manifested among all heathen 
nations to bring their Divinity as near as pos- 
sible. It was after the worship of the Sun and 



OF EAST AND WEST 17 

Fire that men descended to the more groveling 
worship of " four-footed beasts and creeping 
things." It is a striking fact that the offerings 
of almost all the religions of the East were fruits 
and rice and flowers. Similar to the fruits of 
the ground, Cain attempted to offer. 



CHAPTER TWO 

BETHEL — HOUSE OF GOD 

Genesis ii, 31. 

" And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of 
Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his 
son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from 
Ur of Chaldees, to go into the Land of Canaan ; and they 
came to Haran and dwelt there. 

Genesis 12, i and 8. 

" Now the Lord said to Abram, ' Get thee out of thy 
country, and from thy kindred and from thy father's 
house ; unto a land that I will show thee.' 

" And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the 
East of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on 
the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an 
Altar unto the Lord, and called upon the Name of the 
Lord." 



19 



CHAPTER TWO 

BETHEL — HOUSE OF GOD 

AS we have seen Cain was the first who is 
recorded as having* moved East of Eden 
— while Terah and his family including 
Abraham are the first names recorded as having 
moved in a contrary direction. Of course it is 
not meant that no other persons had moved in 
this contrary direction, for Canaan itself was 
in possession of the Canaanites, and Egypt was 
no doubt a populous country. The object of the 
Bible is not to give a history of the movements 
of nations, any more than it is a treatise on the 
movements of the planets. It has to do with 
movements of men as affecting the Plan of Sal- 
vation which it is given to reveal; and it is in 
this sense that it is significant that Cain is re- 
ferred to as moving East, and Abraham is the 
first one who returns in the direction of the Gate 
of Eden, that is toward the West. 

Whether Abraham himself had ever worshiped 
Idols we do not know, but it was to separate 
him from people who were worshipers of idols 
that he was called to leave Ur of Chaldees. He 

21 



22 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

was to be brought in such a way as to turn his 
back on the Sun; the most probable worship of 
the Eastern nations of his day. He entered 
Canaan, the Land of promise from the East and 
his first place of recorded worship is Bethel. 
The question as to the position of the Promised 
Land relatively to Eden will be considered in 
connection with the entrance of the Children of 
Israel ; but it is very striking that the next time 
the word East (with the exception of the disper- 
sion after the flood appears in the Holy Scrip- 
ture after Eden), is in connection with Bethel, 
the first place where Abraham is recorded to have 
established a regular worship,, and the second 
Holy place mentioned in Scripture. It is sig- 
nificant also that the first reference in the Scrip- 
tures to the West is in connection with Bethel. 
Bethel means House of God, so that by its very 
name it is set apart, but it becomes still more 
significant where we find it located, and evidently 
with a purpose, in exactly the same way as the 
Gate of Eden. After so many centuries a rep- 
resentative of sinful Adam, but like him a peni- 
tent sinner, seeking ways of new obedience 
erected an altar that must have occupied the very 
position relatively of that of Adam and Abel 
where they offered sacrifices in the " presence of 
the Lord." 

That Bethel is especially marked out as a 
Holy Place in Scripture is evident from what is 



OF EAST AND WEST 23 

further recorded of it. Jacob on his way to 
Haran to escape the vengeance of Esau against 
whom he had very grievously sinned, lay down 
at Bethel with a stone for his pillow and had the 
wonderful vision of the ladder extending from 
earth to heaven, " and behold the angel of God 
ascending and descending on it." And behold 
the Lord stood above it and said " I am the Lord 
God of Abraham thy father " thus connecting 
it with the incident we have already recorded. 
Jacob was being driven toward Haran and the 
East by his sins, but the Lord who " Looketh 
not on the outward appearance, but on the heart " 
found something in the way of possibility for 
good, even in the midst of the deceit of Jacob's 
life, and when he had been chastened and re- 
turned from his wanderings, it was in this same 
Bethel he worshiped. " And God said unto 
Jacob, * Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, 
and make there an Altar unto God, that ap- 
peared unto thee when thou fleddest from the 
face of Esau thy brother.' Then Jacob said unto 
his household, and to all that were with him, 
* Put away the strange gods that are among 
you and be clean and change your garments; 
and let us arise and go to Bethel ; and I will make 
there an Altar unto God, who answered me in 
the day of my distress and was with me in the 
way which I went.' " 

We have a reference, or at least this is the gen- 



24 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

erally received opinion, by our Saviour himself to 
Bethel, where he said to Nathaniel, " Hereafter 
ye shall see the heavens open, and the angels of 
God ascending and descending upon the Son of 
Man." It is supposed that Nathaniel had been 
reading and meditating upon this ancient story, 
wondering perhaps as to what the significance of 
the passage was. It is enough for our present 
purpose to have this indorsement by the Master 
of the importance of the place and the occur- 
rence Avhich takes this '' House of God " quite 
out of the line of ordinary cities, and in some 
sense emphasizes the fact that after Eden, it is 
the first place that is designated as facing to the 
East in an account that covers some twenty-one 
hundred years. 

Let us repeat that when Jehovah, called the 
Father of the Faithful as the progenitor of a 
'* peculiar people " who should be made the ob- 
jects of His special care, and whose chief honor 
it should be to be the custodian of the Revela- 
tion He was to make of Himself to men, he 
brought him from the East and caused him to set 
up an Altar at Bethel, and to worship with his 
back to the Sun and facing this House of God. 

Neither must we neglect to notice that with 
the exception of the altar that Noah built Avhen 
he came out of the Ark, this is the first mention 
during some twent3^-one hundred years of sac- 
rifice. Of course such sacrifices continued in the 



OF EAST AND WEST 25 

line of those who worshiped Jehovah, and the 
fact is here recorded particularly to bring Bethel 
into harmony with the worship at the Gate of 
Eden. It is not recorded, indeed, that there was 
any manifestation of the Divine presence in a 
luminous cloud as in the Holy of Holies, and 
yet it would be entirely consistent with the story, 
if our imagination supplied the want of the nar- 
rative. It could not have been long before 
when the following scene occurred. In obe- 
dience to the Divine command Abraham had 
taken a heifer, and a goat and a ram and a turtle 
dove and a young pigeon and having killed them, 
divided each into two pieces and laid them in two 
rows — " and it came to pass that when the sun 
went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking 
furnace and a burning lamp that passed between 
those pieces and that same day the Lord made a 
covenant with Abram.'' Perhaps the fire that 
consumed the sacrifice came down from heaven 
as it certainly did when the Altar at the Taber- 
nacle and at the Temple were dedicated. The 
very name of the place Bethel, House of God, 
carries with it the suggestion of some Divine 
manifestation. 

In connection with the sojourn of Abraham 
in Canaan, we cannot overlook the significance 
of this word East as given in the sacred record 
in connection with the quarrel of Lot with Abra- 
ham and the choice he made. In the 13th chap- 



26 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

ter of Genesis it is stated, " Then Lot chose him 
all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed East, 
and they separated themselves, the one from the 
other, Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and 
Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched 
his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom 
were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceed- 
ingly." The East, so far as the scriptures are 
concerned, up to the time of our Savior, seems 
to have been the synonym for sin and from the 
days of Cain who " went out from the presence 
of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod on 
the East of Eden," the dwelling-place of sin- 
ners. 



CHAPTER. THREE 

THE TABERNACLE AND THE TEMPLE 

Numbers 3, 38. 

" But those who encamp before the Tabernacle toward 
the East, even before the tabernacle of the congregation, 
shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping charge 
of the sanctuary, for the charge of the children of Israel ; 
and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death." 

Numbers 2, 3. 

"And on the east side toward the rising of the Sun, 
shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch, 
throughout their armies." 



27 



CHAPTER THREE. 

THE TABERNACLE AND THE TEMPLE 

THE next Holy Place we come to in the 
Scriptures is the Tabernacle, and as the 
Temple was in general form the same and 
for the same purpose, they can be properly con- 
sidered together in the same Chapter. That 
the Tabernacle faced East is a well known fact, 
testified to from Hebrew records aside from the 
scriptural account, but it is evident from the de- 
scription given in the twenty-sixth chapter of 
Exodus of the boards that formed the sides of 
the enclosure of the " meeting house," those for 
the north, south and west sides are particularly 
mentioned giving the number of each and size, 
while none are mentioned for the eastern side. 
This was the entrance, and was not closed with 
boards but by a veil or curtain, a description of 
which we have in the thirty-sixth verse. " And 
thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the 
tent of blue and purple and scarlet and fine 
twined linen, wrought with needle work." It is 
also evident from Numbers 2, 3, " And on the 
east side toward the rising of the Sun shall they 

29 



30 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch 
throughout their armies." It is significant that 
the tribe of Judah from which our Lord sprang 
had the most honorable position and stood near- 
est that eastern entrance to the Tabernacle, 
which itself occupied relatively the same posi- 
tion as the Gate of Eden and the city of Bethel. 
The only other tribe that stood nearer or within 
the Gate was the tribe of Levi, which included 
Moses and Aaron who were the official repre- 
sentatives of Jehovah. One of the most strik- 
ing reminders of Eden, was the presence of the 
Cherubim in the Holy of Holies and the shining 
presence of Jehovah between them. This com- 
bination of the figures and the " presence of the 
Lord" is not mentioned since the dav when Adam 
and Eve were driven from Eden. When we 
consider that Moses and the children of Israel 
were fully aware of this fact, we will in some 
measure realize the wonderful importance it 
must have had to them. While it suggested 
Eden, and the flaming sword, guarding the way 
to the " tree of life," it must have also suggested 
the " Lord God merciful and gracious, long- 
suffering and abundant in goodness, mercy and 
truth and yet who will by no means clear the 
guilty." Moses and Aaron however could enter 
into the very presence of Jehovah and return 
alive, and this was a visible sign that a way had 



OF EAST AND WEST 31 

been found whereby " sinful man could be just 
with God." 

The Temple at Jerusalem, being only a more 
elaborate and costly counter-part of the Taber- 
nacle, also occupied the same position with re- 
gard to the East. So important was this that 
the area of ground on the top of the eminence 
on which it was erected not being large enough, 
it was extended at great cost by building up a 
retaining wall on the side of the valley of the 
Kidron and filling it in with earth. Many of 
the stones were very great and are no doubt 
those referred to by our Savior, when He said 
to His disciples, as He sat at the foot of the 
Mount of Olives, in speaking of the destruction 
of Jerusalem, " seest thou these great stones?" 
We are told that this front of the temple even in 
our Savior's time rose to a great height, and as 
it was overlaid with gold, was a very beautiful 
sight when it caught the rays of the sun, as they 
first reached it over the Mount of Olives. 

It indeed faced the Sun, just as did all the 
heathen temples of that day. It was one result 
however of the position of the Altar of burnt 
sacrifices at the Temple that the Priest of Je- 
hovah was compelled to stand with his back to- 
ward the Sun; thus reversing the position of all 
idolatrous priests and casting contempt on their 
idols. 

The heavenly guide of the prophet Ezekiel, 



32 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

showed him a culmination of all the abomina- 
tions of Judah. " Then said He unto me, " Hast 
thou seen this O, son of man? Turn thee again 
and thou shalt see greater abominations than 
these." 

" And He brought me into the inner court of 
the Lord's house and behold, at the door of the 
temple of the Lord, between the porch and the 
altar, were about five and twenty men, with 
their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and 
their faces toward the East; and they worshiped 
the sun toward the East." 

It is remarkable that even in the Christian 
Church there have been in all ages down to our 
own those who have overlooked this evident in- 
tention of Jehovah to place dishonor on the 
heathen worship of the sun. Dr. Mosheim in 
his ecclesiastical history thus refers to it : " Be- 
fore the coming of Christ all the eastern nations 
performed Divine w^orship with their faces turned 
to that part of the heavens where the sun dis- 
plays his rising beams. This custom was 
founded upon a general opinion that God whose 
essence they looked upon to be light, and whom 
they considered as being circumscribed within 
certain limits, dwelt in that part of the firma- 
ment, from which He sends forth the sun, the 
bright image of His benignity and glory. The 
Christian converts indeed rejected this gross er- 
ror ; but they retained the ancient and universal 



OF EAST AND WEST 33 

custom, of worshiping toward the east, which 
sprang from it. Nor is that custom abohshed 
even in our times, but still prevails in a number 
of Christian Churches." In view of the fact 
that the Jewish worship, to which certainly 
Christians should look for a warrant for forms 
of worship, rather than to eastern idolaters, ex- 
pressly provides against- this error ; it is difficult 
to understand how the early church fell into so 
great a mistake, and still more difficult to under- 
stand how any Christian communion of this late 
age should persist in observing it. 

One of the most precious of all texts is that 
which assures us, that, " as far as the East is 
from the West so far hath He removed our 
transgressions from us." It had a practical il- 
lustration in the ceremonies connected with the 
great day of Atonement^ a full account of which 
we have in Leviticus i6th chapter. Two goats 
were selected, one of which was slain and its 
blood carried by the High Priest into the Holy 
of Holies and sprinkled on the mercy seat which 
was between the Cherubim; the other goat was 
brought to the High Priest who laying his hands 
on the animal's heal confessed his own sin and 
all the sins of the people and the goat was then 
led away into the wilderness " East of Jordan." 

Following the line of our subject and in con- 
nection with the services of the temple and the 
sins of the " peculiar people," it is a striking fact 



34 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

that all the punishments and captivities resulting 
from the sin of idolatry are associated with the 
East. Egypt was just as much a heathen coun- 
try as Assyria or Persia, and yet we never hear 
of the Jews being carried captive into Egypt. 
It is always eastward, and when they repented 
of their idolatries, the return was from East to 
West. It may be objected that the bondage in 
Egypt in the time of Moses seems to be an ex- 
ception. But we are not warranted in consider- 
ing that bondage a punishment. It was rather a 
trial and chastening and intended to consolidate 
the nation and make it willing to depart for 
Canaan. Egypt is rather associated with the 
good that came to Joseph, and through him to 
Jacob and his descendants in preserving them 
from famine, and our Savior Himself was pre- 
served there safe from the wrath of cruel Herod. 
As we have already suggested, Egypt occupied a 
very different position, so far as the training 
of God's people was concerned than Assyria and 
Persia and the countries of the East. 

Of course we expect to find an altar for sac- 
rifice at the entrance to the Tabernacle and the 
Temple, but we must not overlook the fact that it 
stood in the same relative position toward the 
Cherubim and the Holy presence that shone be- 
tween in the Holy of Holies, that the altar on 
which the sacrifice of Abel was offered stood to 
the Cherubim and the " presence of the Lord " 



OF EAST AND WEST 35 

at the eastern entrance to Eden. They signi- 
fied the same thing". They both held out to sin- 
ful man the possibility of reconciliation, but they 
also indicated that the way back to Eden was not 
yet free to all. There was an advance on the 
revelation made to Adam at the Gate of Eden 
and to Abraham at Bethel, for now Moses and 
Aaron and the High Priest of all ages of the 
Hebrew Church were permitted once a year to 
enter the Holy of Holies, a most precious inti- 
mation that a way might be found, when not 
only these favored ones but those whom they 
represented might also freely enter in. 



CHAPTER FOUR 

THE HOLY LAND 

Exodus 3, 7 and 8. 

" And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction 
of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their 
cry by reason of their task-masters ; for I know their 
sorrows, 

"■ And I am come down to deliver them out of the Land 
of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land, 
unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with 
milk and honey." 



37 



CHAPTER FOUR, 

THE HOLY LAND 

A GLANCE at the Map of Palestine is all that 
is necessary to make an impression as to its 
peculiar form and position. It lies due 
north and south and east and west. It is situ- 
ated between the great eastern nations of Asia 
and the great western nations of Europe, and has 
had much to do with the destinies of both. But to 
the Hebrew and the Christian alike, it is known 
as the earthly Canaan and the Land of Promise, 
the scene of the training of the Children of Abra- 
ham, and the earthly home of Him, " who 
though He was rich yet for our sakes became 
poor that we through Llis poverty might be made 
rich." If in no other sense it could be called 
holy, it would be true of it, that it at one time 
had for an inhabitant one who was '' holy, harm- 
less, tmdefiled and separate from sinners." 

So far as the scripture account of it is given, 
it was good and large, a land " flowing with 
milk and honey." By its diversified surface of 
hill and dale, it was specially adapted to the oc- 
cupations in which the children of Israel had been 

39 



40 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

trained during their sojourn in Egypt. Its 
water abounded in fish and its hills and valleys 
were covered with vineyards and olive trees. 
But to a Hebrew it was above everything else 
the land of Promise; Abraham had looked to 
the north and to the south, to the east and to 
the west, and Jehovah had promised when as yet 
he did not possess a foot of it, " all this will I 
give thee and to thy seed forever." 

At length the time came to enter on the reali- 
zation of the Promise. Pharaoh was humbled 
under the mighty judgments of Jehovah, and 
Moses was leading the hosts of Israel to possess 
the heritage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The 
natural entrance was by the south-west, and the 
beginning of the journey was north-east. Then 
a strange event occurred. The spies who had 
been sent forward to learn the best route, came 
back panic-stricken with tales of giants and 
walled cities, and invincible hosts. Unbelief, 
that prolific source of human woe ; want of trust 
in the arm of Jehovah ; want of obedience to His 
commands as given by Moses, prevented them 
from entering in; and they were ordered on 
that painful and circuitous route which after forty 
years brought them to the river Jordan opposite 
the city of Jericho. 

They could not enter in from the south-west 
because of unbelief, but that was just the sin that 
sent Adam and Eve on that journey from the 



OF EAST AND WEST 41 

Gate of Eden eastward. The Land of promise 
like Eden and Bethel also faced east. It be- 
longed to Jehovah. The children of Israel were 
about to enter on its privileges to place them- 
selves under His rule to acknowledge Him as 
their King, and He was about to receive them as 
His people, but it was necessary for them to 
come in the appointed way, to acknowledge in 
the very direction from which they came that 
they were returning prodigals seeking their 
Father's house. 

In this view of the case it is very interesting 
to consider exactly how they entered the Holy 
Land. We have a detailed account of it in the 
Third and Fourth chapters of Joshua. The Ark 
of the covenant on which were the figures of the 
Cherubim, symbolizing those that guarded the 
East Gate of Eden twenty-five hundred years be- 
fore, went in advance and the waters of Jordan 
rolled back. The Ark, the symbol of the Divine 
Presence remained in the middle of the river un- 
til the hosts of Israel had all entered Canaan. 
Thus in advancing stages under different dispen- 
sations, in widely different circumstances, the 
story of Eden is repeated, the significance of the 
East is steadily emphasized. Man departed in a 
certain direction from Jehovah when he sinned, 
and in the eternal fitness lof things he must re- 
trace his steps if he would enjoy the benefits of 
his Father's house. 



42 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

It is not well to be wise above what is written. 
The conquest of Canaan may have in it many 
suggestions that have their counterpart in the ex- 
perience of God's people. Bunyan's Pilgrim's 
Progress is an Allegory. The selection of Abra- 
ham, the training of the children of Israel, the 
journey in the wilderness, the entrance into Ca- 
naan, and its conquest are stupendous facts. If 
we could follow them and understood it all in 
its spiritual significance, the triumph at Jericho, 
the defeat at Ai, the wicked city that stood east 
of Bethel, we might find it to be an epitome of 
still larger movements in the church of God, in 
the ages that have followed. But certainly the 
fact that they entered the Land of Promise by so 
circuitous a route, when taken in connection with 
the prominence given the East at Eden, Bethel 
and the Tabernacle and Temple, is food for 
thought. 

The Egyptians entered Canaan from the south, 
and the Syrians from the north. The Philis- 
tines entered it from the west. But for those to 
whom it was the land of promise as we have seen 
both in the case of Abraham and the Children 
of Israel it w^as entered from the east. The 
cities named in connection with the entry of 
Abraham are Schechem and Bethel and Ai, and 
these places, a glance at the map will show, were 
most directly approached from the east by cross- 
ing the Jordan. Even if he came from the 



OF EAST AND WEST 43 

north-east, these facts would show that he first 
traveled south and crossed the Jordan probably 
at the very place, that his descendants, now be- 
come a host, entered Canaan. This is confirmed 
when we remember that when Jacob returned 
from his wanderings, he probably came in the 
same way, by Mananhain, Peniel, the brook Jab- 
bok and across Jordan. In calling Abraham 
from Ur of Chaldees, and in bringing the chil- 
dren of Israel into Canaan across Jordan, it is 
as if Jehovah had called Adam and Eve from 
their wanderings once more into the Garden of 
Eden through that Eastern Gate through which 
they were driven out. 

We cannot leave the consideration of this sub- 
ject without pointing out the reverse of the pic- 
ture, which is, that whenever these same Children 
of Israel were unbelieving and disobedient, espec- 
ially in that sin of Adam and Eve of looking 
from the Jehovah of Eden to another guide 
which is the root of all idolatry, they were pun- 
ished by being sent into captivity and always 
toward the East. As we have already suggested 
the Children of Israel were chastened through 
the instrumentality of the Egyptians and the 
Philistines, but there seems to be a warrant for 
drawing a wide distinction between the suffer- 
ings they experienced from the nations from the 
west and south, and those in whose midst they 
were sent as captives in the east. 



CHAPTER FIVE 

THE HOLY CITY 

Psalm 122. 



45 



CHAPTER FIVE 

THE HOLY CITY 

LIKE the New Jerusalem that St. John saw 
in prophetic vision in the Isle called Pat- 
mos, the Holy City, too, " lieth four 
square " as to general position. It was walled, 
and was entered from different directions by 
gates. The most ancient record concerning 
these is perhaps that of Nehemiah who came 
from Shushan in Medo-Persia, as recorded in 
his prophecy. The first one mentioned is the 
" Gate of the Valley," and as he came in as 
straight a line from due east as a bird could fly, 
we naturally connect this first gate with the Val- 
ley of the Kidron, and the way to Bethany and 
the fords at Jericho. Next we have the " Gate 
of the Fountain," which led to the King's pool, 
then the " sheep gate," the " fish gate," '' the 
old gate," " the horse gate," and " the water 
gate." These have lost, of course, all signifi- 
cance to us by lapse of time. In the time of our 
Savior the entrances to the city were probably 
very much as they were when Nehemiah repaired 
them. In those days Herod's gate was on the 

47 



48 THE BIBLE SIGXIFICANCE 

north and also the Damascus gate; on the west 
Jaffa gate; on the south, Zion gate; on the east 
modern Jerusalem has St. Stephen's gate, and 
the " Golden Gate," now mysteriously closed. 
These gates like the " Valley Gate " of Nehe- 
miah, face the east, and at least one of them was 
directly opposite the jMount of Olives, and as 
we shall see the one by which the Tribes entered 
Jerusalem when they came up several times in a 
year to attend the feasts. 

Several tribes ; that is the half tribes of Manas- 
seh, Gad and Reuben, had their inheritance on the 
East side of Jordan, and in coming to Jerusalem 
to worship would cross the Jordan near Jericho, 
and coming by the way of Bethany enter the city 
by the descent of the Mount of Olives and cross- 
ing the brook Kidron. It may be that even the 
tribes north, may have united with this company, 
and together made one great procession, entering 
Jerusalem by the same gate. But, however this 
may have been in the time of David, by a very 
remarkable Providence, the Jews in Galilee for 
some hundreds of years before the time of our 
Savior, were compelled to make a detour to the 
other side of Jordan when they came up to Jeru- 
salem to attend the Feasts; by the fact that Sa- 
maria lay between Galilee and Judea, and such 
enmity existed between the two nations that a 
journey through Samaria for a Galilean was 
practically impossible. If a Jew was by stress 



OF EAST AND WEST 49 

of thirst compelled to drink out of the cup of a 
Samaritan, the vessel was immediately broken 
and destroyed. This enmity of course prevented 
all intercourse with the Samaritans and made it 
necessary to pass around Samaria by crossing the 
Jordan at the fords of Enon and recrossing near 
Jericho. From there the way led by Bethany 
and the Mount of Olives across the brook Kid- 
ron to the eastern gate of the Holy City. In 
this way our Savior always entered the city, so 
far as wx have any record, from the time He 
went up with His parents at the age of twelve 
" about His Father's business," until the day He 
entered it amidst the acclamations and receiving 
the homage of the multitude who hailed Him 
as their King. Every day of the week of His 
Passion, He went out of this eastern gate to 
Bethany and returned every morning. Was 
there no significance in this uniform, and so far 
as we have any record, this unchanging course 
on the part of the tribes and especially of our 
Savior in view of the prominence we have no- 
ticed as to the East in the scriptures? 

We are perhaps too much disposed to con- 
sider the events of our Savior's life in immediate 
connection with His crucifixion as isolated facts, 
rather than in their connection with each other. 
We think of the Passover supper in an isolated 
way. So, too, of the agony in the Garden of 
Gethsemane, the scene before Caiaphas and the 



50 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

trial before Pilate; as completed facts in them- 
selves; when we ought rather to consider them 
as parts of a connected whole terminating on 
Calvary, and the Resurrection and the Ascension ; 
as fulfilling types and symbols; commenced at 
the eastern gate of Eden, continued at Bethel, 
the Tabernacle, the Temple and the Holy land, 
and culminating when in " leading captivity cap- 
tive," He entered the New Jerusalem, the Para- 
dise above, opening a way for all His people to 
once more enjoy the Tree of Life. 

St. Paul warrants us in looking upon our 
Savior as a second Adam, First Corinthians 15th 
Chapter, 22d Verse. " For as in Adam all die 
even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Ro- 
mans 5th Chapter, 14th Verse " who (Adam) 
is the figure of Him that was to come." May 
we not also say that the Holy City was in some 
sense a counterpart of Adam's abode while sin- 
less? The garden of Eden, where men did ac- 
tually commune with Jehovah, not only in the 
Temple which our Savior calls ** my Father's 
house," but in the fact that the glory of this 
Temple far exceeded that of Solomon's in that 
the prophecies of Haggai and Malachi were 
fulfilled where they said the glory of this latter 
house shall be greater than of the former. Now 
with this thought of " Adam as a figure of Him 
that was to come," and this thought of Jerusalem 
as a counterpart of Eden, notice the wonderful 



OF EAST AND WEST 51 

significance of what occurred immediately after 
the last Passion Supper. The Savior had formally 
announced to the disciples in the breaking of 
bread, saying " This is my body which is given for 
you." " This cup is the New Testament in my 
blood which is shed for you," that He had become 
their substitute. Where is it before so plainly 
stated as at this Passion Supper and the institu- 
tion that followed it, that He was man's substi- 
tute? Not that He was ever aught else, even in 
the Cradle in Bethlehem, yea in the counsels of 
eternity when He said ** Lo ! I come ; in the vol- 
ume of the Book it is written of me I delight to 
do thy will, O my God," but where is it so for- 
mally stated as here, and when He is about to 
perform a deeply significant act fulfilling a sym- 
bolism that reached back four thousand years? 
It was as our substitute then, as " Christ our 
Passion," bearing our sin, having taken the place 
of Adam and all his posterity " under the laws," 
that this " second Adam " said, after using the 
words " this is my body given for you," ^' arise, 
let us go hence'' and passed through the Eastern 
Gate of the Holy City, taking the identical direc- 
tion the first Adam took when he was driven, as 
a sinner from Eden. What a new significance 
this gives to Gethsemane! It was no fortu- 
itous occurrence. As our substitute. He had 
now presented to Him in immediate prospect the 
fearful penalty of the Law that the first Adam 



52 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

had broken " in the day thou eatest thereof thou 
shalt surely die " Genesis 2d Chapter, 17th Verse. 
Once more the Prince of Darkness, who had 
been so successful in defeating the first Adam 
used all his powers to cause this second Adam 
to ignore the Divine will and prove unbelieving 
and disobedient, but He had " learned obedi- 
ence " by the things He had suffered and was 
able to say with three-fold emphasis, " Not my 
will, but Thine be done." The agony was over, 
the victory was won and now we can say 
" Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." He now al- 
lows the multitude to take Him captive; notice 
the exact account of John, " Jesus therefore 
knowing all things that should come upon Him 
went forth and said unto them * Whom seek 
ye ? ' ; prevents Simon Peter from defending 
Him; reminds him of the twelve Legions of An- 
gels He had at His command, and meekly re- 
enters the Holy City by the same Eastern Gate." 
But to return to Eden meant just what re- 
turning to the New Eden above means; freedom 
from sin. Revelation 21st Chapter, 27th Verse. 
" And there shall in no wise enter into it any- 
thing unclean, or he that maketh an abomination 
and a lie ; " and our Savior must not only will- 
ingly bear the penalty, but as our substitute He 
must be sinless. This is the keynote to an un- 
derstanding of the trials before Caiaphas and J^ 



OF EAST AND WEST 53 

Herod and Pilate. What He seems most anxious 
to do before all His judges is to maintain His 
freedom from all wrong-doing. With this in view 
the trial before Caiaphas is very significant. 
His claim that He was the Son of God, was 
drawn out by the extra judicial questioning of 
the High Priest, but His own thoughts seem 
to have revolved about the idea that He was free 
from Sin, John i8th Chapter, 20th and 21st 
Verses. " Jesus answered him I spoke openly 
to the world, I ever taught in the synagogue and 
in the Temple whither the Jews resort, and in 
secret have I said nothing." He was accused by 
false witnesses, but neither did their witnesses 
agree, so that He stood before Caiaphas with- 
out a fault. Before the representative of Jeho- 
vah; the High Priest of the Law that came by 
Moses and that was written on tables of stone 
by Jehovah Himself, He claimed to be free from 
all sin. So before Pilate, the charge was sedi- 
tion and making Himself a King to the over- 
throw of the authority of the Roman Emperor. 
But Jesus affirmed that His Kingship extended 
only over those who " loved the Truth." Pilate 
after the fullest investigation, as Herod under 
whose rule He had lived all His life, had al- 
ready done by implication, pronounced Him 
guiltless as to any sin against the State so that in 
the presence of all Law, human and Divine, He 
was pronounced guiltless. As the second Adam 



54 THE BIBLE SIGXIFICAXCE 

and the substitute for sinners He might not only 
enter Eden, if it had then existed,, but had now 
His right to the Tree of Life in the Paradise 
above. 

Then comes the sequel to the agony of Geth- 
semane. As our substitute it was not only neces- 
sary to have kept the Law perfectly, it was also 
necessary to pay the dread penalty fore-shadowed 
in the garden of Gethsemane. Bearing our sin, 
and carrying the cross,. He again went forth 
without the city walls, but significantly this time, 
in exactly the opposite direction, having been 
pronounced holy. Being lifted up upon the cross 
and havins: said *'' It is finished," after that cul- 
minating cry of '' Eloi ! Eloi ! lama sabachthani; " 
the veil of the Temple was rent in twain, and ac- 
cess was made into the Holy of Holies ; into the 
presence of the Cherubim who guarded the gate 
at Eden; by a new and living way, even the rent 
veil of our Redeemer's broken bodv. Yea much 
more an entrance into the " presence of the 
Lord," svmbolized bv the flaminsf sword at the 
gate of Eden that guarded ^' the way to the tree 
of life," for now all who accept Him as their sub- 
stitute are pronounced thus blessed, Revelation 
22d Chapter, 14th Verse, " Blessed are all they 
that do His commandments that they may have 
right to the tree of life and may enter in through 
the gates into the city." Hebrews 9th Chapter, 
25th Verse, "' For Christ entered not into a 



OF EAST AND WEST 55 

Holy place made with hands like a pattern to 
the true, but into heaven itself now to appear be- 
fore the face of God for us," and again Hebrews 
loth Chapter, 12th Verse, "but He, when 
He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat 
down on the right hand of God ; from henceforth 
expecting that His enemies be made the foot- 
stool of His feet. For by one offering He hath 
perfected forever them that are sanctified. And 
the Holy Ghost also beareth witness to us; for 
after He hath said: 

" This is the covenant that I will make with them 
After those days said the Lord ; 
I will put my laws on their hearts, 
And upon their mind also will I write them ; 

And their sins and their iniquities 

Will I remember no more. 
Now where remission of these is 

There is no more offering for sin.'* 

This last emphatic utterance of Inspiration, 
reminds us that all the Holy places we have been 
considering were associated with the idea of sac- 
rifice, an " offering for sin." Eden and the of- 
fering of Abel, Bethel and the altar of Abra- 
ham, the Tabernacle and the Temple with the 
ministration of the Aaronic priesthood, the Holy 
Land and the morning sacrifice on the eastern 
side of Jordan, but does this hold good of the 
Holy City? We must not think of the sacrifice 



56 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

at the Temple, as a testimony to this idea be- 
cause that belonged to the Holy of Holies. 
Where shall we look for the idea of sacrifice in 
connection with the Holy City? The answer is 
plain and yet wonderfvil. Just as the Holy City 
was the culmination of all the Holy places that 
preceded it if we must except Eden of which it 
was intended to be the counterpart, and the last 
of these earthly symbolism; so the sacrifice that 
we always associate with it is the glorious ful- 
filment of all the symbolic sacrificial types. In 
the very locality made sacred by the offering up 
by Abraham in fullest intention of his only son 
Isaac; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 
offered up very really " His only begotten and 
well-beloved Son." Himself a willing sacrifice; 
and so it has come to pass Hebrews 9th Chapter, 
15th Verse, "He is the Mediator of a new 
covenant, that a death having taken place for the 
Redemption of the transgressions that were under 
the first covenant, they that have been called may 
receive the promise of the Eternal inheritance." 

Our Savior said to the penitent thief, " this 
day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise," show- 
ing that the way was now open to the Tree of 
Life." 

The best tradition Is that He was crucified at 
the western Gate of the City, the one that opened 
on the way to Joppa and the West. It is how- 
ever a very striking fact that in this last great 



OF EAST AND WEST 57 

sacrifice the victim did not face any earthly Holy 
of Holies but as the scriptures say " but Christ 
having come a High Priest of the good things 
to come, through the greater and more perfect 
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say 
not of this creation, nor yet through the blood 
of goats and calves, but through His own blood, 
entered at once into the Holy place, having ob- 
tained eternal redemption — which hope we have 
as our anchor to the soul, a hope both sure and 
steadfast and entering into that which is within 
the veil, whither as our fore-runner Jesus en- 
tered for us." 

Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Eden 
and the guilty Adam fleeing through that Eastern 
gate under the weight of the penalty — " the day 
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," and 
four thousand years after the second Adam, the 
Lord from heaven " holy, harmless, undefiled and 
separate from sinners," returning from Geth- 
semane through the eastern gate of the Holy 
City to suffer that penalty in His own body on 
the accursed tree; thus gaining for all who ac- 
cept Him as their substitute, access once more to 
the " tree of life." 

Is not this wonderful symbolism an evidence 
of design? It extends as we have seen up to 
this time from Adam to Christ, and as we shall 
see in another form, has continued from His 
day to our own. How will Higher criticism 



58 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

account for this deep-laid object lesson, found 
in the five books of Moses, in Kings, in prophe- 
cies, connected in the continuous developments 
of. the plan of salvation, woven like a thread 
of gold, and with it the idea that " with- 
out the shedding of blood there is no remission," 
binding together the Old Testament and the 
New, proving its Divine origin and that Holy 
men not only spoke, but journeyed, and built 
altars, and temples and occupied countries and 
founded cities " as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost?" 

What will our Hebrew brethren do with this 
wonderful symbolism which appeals so directly 
to all that is glorious in their past history? 
Their greatest claim to the regard and love of 
the Gentile world, is given by one who claimed 
himself to be a " Hebrew of the Hebrews," when 
he put it on record in writing to his brethren in 
Rome " what advantage then hath the Jew ? 
Much everyway; first of all that they were in- 
trusted with the oracles of God ; " " who are 
Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and 
the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of 
the law, and the service of God, and the prom- 
ises, whose are the fathers, and of whom concern- 
ing the flesh Christ came who is over all, God 
blessed forever." What will they do with the 
fact that Eden and the altar on which Abel of- 
fered has vanished; that Bethel and the Altar of 



OF EAST AND WEST 59 

Abraham is no more ; that the Tabernacle and the 
Temple with all their wondrous sacrifices have 
not been in existence for nearly nineteen hun- 
dred years ; that the Holy Land is holy only as a 
memory ; that the Holy City has been these many 
centuries a synonym for the tenets of a false re- 
ligion, the possession of the followers of Ma- 
homet ? 

These are serious facts that need an explana- 
tion from a race noted for its mental acumen. 
They cannot be treated as doctrinal enigmas. 
This age prides itself on its recognition of facts 
as opposed to the speculations of philosophy and 
the dogmas of theology what answer will it 
make to these tangible records in wood, and 
stone; graven even on land itself? The prophet 
Malachi was inspired to give the answer, as to 
why this all occurred and this will occupy our 
attention in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER SIX 

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

Malachi 4, 2. 

"But unto you that fear my Name, shall the Sun of 
Righteousness arise with healing in His wings." 

"From the rising of the sun even unto the going down 
of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles ; 
and in every place incense shall be offered unto my 
Name, and a pure offering: for my Name shall be great 
among the heathens, saith the Lord of hosts." 



61 



The Heathen World, Known and Unknown in the Time of Christ 




CHAPTER SIX 

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 

THE significance of the figure used as above 
by the prophet Malachi is emphasized by 
the fact that it is contained in the closing 
words of the old Testament revelation which as 
we have seen was a revelation based upon sym- 
bols, and especially on symbols connected with 
sacrifice and is not used in any other place. The 
light up to that time had been dim, the twilight 
before the dawn, the prophetic assurance was, 
that this was to give way to a more glorious 
manifestation of spiritual illumination. And 
yet we have connected with it the same idea, we 
have been considering a movement from East to 
West. The history of the progress of the 
church since the ascension of Christ, proves that 
this was not a mere figure of speech on the part 
of Malachi. Not more certainly, in ordinary hu- 
man speech, does the rising sun begin its prog- 
ress in the east, and move westward, than has 
and does the progress of the Church, as the em- 
bodiment of Christianity follow the same direc- 
tion in gaining conquests for her ascended Lord 

63 



64 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

and Master. And this is true not only of the 
past, but is being fulfilled in such an unmistak- 
able way in our own times that '' he that runs 
may read." 

The parting words of our Savior, as He left 
His wondering disciples on the Mount of Ascen- 
sion, were, '' Go into all the world and preach 
the gospel to every creature, beginning at Jeru- 
salem and lo! I am with you always even to 
the end of the world." No direction as to 
whether they should travel east or west, or north 
or south was given, and yet at the very out- 
start after leaving Jerusalem the gospel, moved 
westward. From a human standpoint it was 
only natural that it should. Greek civilization 
although not as old as the civilization eastward 
beyond the Euphrates, included the most ad- 
vanced learning of the times, and the most lib- 
eral forms of idolatry, and offered an open door 
for the proclamation of the new religion. In 
addition to this, Jews were to be found in greater 
numbers in the west than in the east, although we 
must not overlook the fact that in the days of 
our Savior there was a very eminent school of 
the prophets beyond the Euphrates. Many Jews 
remained in those countries who had refused to 
return at the time when others, released from 
captivity sought the land of their fathers, ac- 
counting for the fact that Paul himself at one 
time desired to preach the gospel in Asia. Per- 



OF EAST AND WEST 65 

haps however the most influential school of the 
prophets after the time of the ascension was at 
Alexandria in northern Egypt on the shore of the 
Mediterranean; and Jews in large numbers were 
located there as well as in Greece and at Rome 
and even far to the west. But from whatever 
cause, we soon find Saul and Barnabas at Antioch 
and Peter at Joppa. Asia Minor was in a few 
years filled with the knowledge of " Jesus and 
the Resurrection." Paul especially had been 
very active and successful. A glance at any 
good map of his first and second missionary 
journey will show how he journeyed north and 
south and east and west in Asia Minor, visiting 
the provinces of Cappadocia, Galatia, Pamphyl- 
ia, Pamplagonia and Phyrgia. But there came 
a time, manifested later, also, when he desired to 
enter in his enthusiastic and characteristic way 
on new fields of conquest. In writing to Rome 
from Corinth afterward, he exhibited the spirit 
to which we refer when he said — " But now 
having no more place in these parts," and ex- 
pressing a great desire to have some fruit among 
them as among other gentiles and in another 
place that " he did not enter into other men's la- 
bors," but sought new ones. It was in some 
such spirit as this that we are to interpret Acts 
1 6th Chapter, 5th to 7th Verses, " And so were 
the churches established in the faith, and increased 
in number daily. Now when they had gone 



66 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and 
were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach in 
Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed 
to go into Bythinia, but the spirit suffered them 
not." That is they were prevented not only from 
preaching the gospel in Asia but prevented from 
continuing their work in Asia Minor. Exception 
will no doubt be taken to this statement as au- 
thorities are not agreed that Asia in this connec- 
tion means the countries east of Judea. Any 
other interpretation however ignores the fact that 
for several years Asia Minor had been the scene 
of very persistent labors on the part of St. Paul, 
and not only of his, but also where Peter and 
Philip and others had preached the gospel. 
Good authorities, among them so great a scholar 
as S. T. Coleridge express the opinion that Asia 
was a name applied to the land beyond the Eu- 
phrates, and that it was so known in the time of 
Paul. That it was a very populous region must 
also have been known, and as has been suggested 
many Jcavs lived there, and Paul in true Mes- 
sianic spirit wanted to gain fresh conquests for 
his Master in that direction, but as we have seen 
he was forbidden and then came the vision of the 
man of Macedonia, Europe instead of Asia, the 
west instead of the east, saying, " Come over and 
help us." And after he had seen the vision, 
" immediately we endeavored to go into Mace- 
donia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had 



OF EAST AND WEST 6y 

called us for to preach the gospel unto them." 
It is certainly a significant fact that we have 
no account in the New Testament of any move- 
ment toward preaching the gospel east of Jeru- 
salem ; certainly no church is mentioned by name. 
Even early tradition only very dimly associates 
the name of the apostle Thomas with the church 
of Persia and the western coast of India. It 
is also certainly a matter of history, that if any 
movement east was attempted in the early church 
it proved unsuccessful, much like the Roman 
Catholic attempts to Christianize China, India 
and Japan. But in striking contrast with this we 
have the Gospel moving westward over the Con- 
tinent of Europe following lines of longitude and 
in fifteen hundred years the conquest was com- 
plete. Africa is to be included, because it was 
among the very first to receive the New Light. 
The prophecy of the Sixty-Eighth Psalm, that 
" Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto 
God " was fulfilled when the Treasurer of Queen 
Candace was converted through the instrumen- 
tality of Philip. 

We are so much accustomed to the idea of the 
" dark continent " in connection with Africa as 
to be in danger of overlooking the fact that 
for many centuries after the Ethiopian treasurer, 
converted through the instrumentality of Philip, 
Africa was to a very great extent the abode of 
a Christian civilization. Dr. Mosheim in his 



68 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

ecclesiastical history says concerning the church 
in Africa in the middle of the fourth century, 
" Toward the middle of the century a certain 
person named Frumentius, went from Egypt to 
Abyssinia or Ethiopia. He made known among 
the people the gospel of Christ and administered 
the sacrament of baptism to their King and to 
several of the first distinction at his court. As 
he was returning into Egypt he received conse- 
cration as the first bishop of the Ethiopians from 
Athanasis and this is the reason why the Ethi- 
opian Church has even to our own time, been 
considered the daughter of the Alexandrian 
from which it also receives its bishop." It is well 
known that Africa on the borders of the Medi- 
terranean Sea, was a very influential part of the 
church in the first centuries, and remained so un- 
til like Asia Minor it fell under the power of the 
followers of Mahomet. The fact that it is to- 
day so free from idolatry, a fact that has surprised 
so many modern explorers, the readiness of its 
inhabitants to receive missionaries, and the re- 
markable susceptibility to religion of the Negroes 
in the United States, all seem to point to the fact 
that Africa must not be placed in the same cate- 
gory as Asia so far as a knowledge of the gospel 
is concerned. 

Following longitudinal lines in Iceland Chris- 
tianity was legaHzed in the year looo. Green- 
land was discovered by an Icelander and was 



OF EAST AND WEST 69 

colonized by Christians from Iceland about 
1 100. Within fifteen hundred years therefore 
Christianity was the acknowledged religion as far 
as the 30th degree of longitude from Greenwich. 
Then followed the discovery of North and South 
America and by the year 1800 Christianity had 
extended to 135th degree of longitude. In 1820 
the Sandwich Islands were first visited by Amer- 
ican missionaries, and in 1825 the Ten Com- 
mandments were proclaimed as the foundation 
of all Law. This moved the line of longitude to 
150°. In i860 New Zealand and Australia were 
occupied by English Christians moving the line 
of longitude to 135° east. 

This brings us to Japan and the Philippines. 
It is a matter of current history how rapidly the 
conquest of Japan and the Philippines to Chris- 
tianity has been since Commodore Perry's visit 
in 1848. Observe how rapidly the movement 
has been since the gospel left the western shores 
of the United States. Fifteen hundred years 
for Europe and Africa, only three hundred years 
for North and South America. Only one hun- 
dred years for the Sandwich Islands, Australasia, 
Japan and the Philippines. A glance at a Mer- 
cator Projection map of the world shows that 
out of the 360 degrees of the Sun's circuit in 
twenty-four hours, there remains less than 50 
degrees to go over until the Sun of Righteous- 
ness again stands over Jerusalem, from which 



70 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

point it started some eighteen hundred and sev- 
enty years ago. 

The most interesting missionary field of to-day 
is conceded to be China, and it is the next in or- 
der to receive the benefit of the '' healing wings " 
of the Sun of Righteousness. Lift up your eyes 
for the fields are already white for the harvest 
or to change the figure. In the early spring we 
sometimes have a twelve inches fall of snow, but 
the warm rains come and the beams of the 
spring sun beat upon it and it passes away quickly 
in abundant life-giving streams. So China has 
been covered with gospel truth by the labors of 
missionaries for seventy-five years. To the hu- 
man eye the effect is not very apparent and we 
wonder what will thaw these cold hearts and 
brighten up this impassive people. A mission- 
ary of seventeen years' service in China says he 
never saw an unconverted Chinaman smile, but it 
only needs the " healing wings " of the Sun of 
Righteousness to bring about mighty changes 
in a very short time. This is the best prospect 
for the solution of the yellow peril, for we need 
have no fear if we have to deal with a Christian- 
ized people. 

After China there remains only India. It like 
China is permeated with the gospel and in due 
time it will also yield its religion of Caste to the 
brotherhood of Christianity. Then with Persia's 
Nestorian religion the way is open for the com- 



OF EAST AND WEST yi 

pletlon of that wonderful circuit from East to 
West, symbolized as we have seen from the Gar- 
den of Eden to our own day. 

The wa'iter of this Book is not a Milleranian 
or Second Adventist, and he has no opinion to 
express on these disputed points, but the concen- 
sus of all Christian beliefs is, that a time is com- 
ing when men " shall beat their swords into 
ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks 
and Nations shall learn war no more." A time 
coming when " Holiness to the Lord " shall be 
written upon the bells of the horses, that is when 
all traffic in a commercial way shall be conducted 
in the spirit of Consecration. A time coming 
when none need say unto his brother " Know the 
Lord for all shall know Him from the least to the 
greatest." Are we not all prepared to say has- 
ten the day, and to rejoice in the certainty that 
the Dawn is appearing? 

Prof. Mellone suggests there may be two views 
held as to " The Kingdom of God " in the world 
— one that man has his part in its progress in the 
world ; and the other that it is a work with which 
God has entirely to do. Our Savior evidently 
taught this latter view. That the Kingdom itself, 
in its conception and introduction into the world 
was all from above. He taught that man's duty 
consisted in preparing himself for it when it came 
to him or he came to it. Our Savior's teaching 
is wonderfully confirmed by what we have been 



y2 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

considering concerning the wonderfully ordered 
progress of this Kingdom in the world. The 
work of the Church has been to prepare men for 
its reception. 

But the culmination of it all will be when there 
is a New Heaven and a New Earth wherein 
dwelleth righteousness, and this brings us to the 
consideration of the seventh Holy Place men- 
tioned in the scripture, The New Jerusalem. 

It is no doubt to this culmination our Savior 
Himself refers in Matthew 24th Chapter and 
27th verse, " For as the lightning cometh out 
of the East and shineth even unto the West; so 
shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." 
This is generally considered to refer, not to the 
completion of the circuit of the Sun of Right- 
eousness which we have been considering, but to 
that *' day and hour which no man knoweth, no, 
not the angels of heaven, but the Father only " 
— yet there is a strangely similar use of the 
words East and West. 



What Remains to be Covered by the Rays of the Sun of Righteousness 




CHAPTER SEVEN, 

THE NEW JERUSALEM 

Revelation 21, i to 3. 

" And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the 
first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and 
there was no more Sea. 

" And I John, saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, com- 
ing down out of heaven, as a bride adorned for her hus- 
band. 

" And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Be- 
hold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will 
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God 
Himself shall be with them and be their God." 



73 



CHAPTER SEVEN 

THE NEW JERUSALEM 

OUR subject brings us naturally to the con- 
sideration of the seventh and last Holy 
Place mentioned in the scriptures. In the 
loth verse of 21st Chapter of Revelation, the 
seer of Patmos says, " and he carried me away in 
the spirit to a great and high mountain, and 
showed me the Holy City, New Jerusalem com- 
ing down out of heaven from God having the 
glory of God; having a wall great and high; 
having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve an- 
gels; and names written thereon, which are the 
names of the twelve tribes of the children of 
Israel; on the East were three gates." The 
statement as to the boundaries of the city begins 
therefore in this suggestive way " on the East 
three gates " and not as a modern map maker 
would have commenced " on the North three 
gates." This holy place unlike those we have 
been considering could be entered from all sides 
for " there is no more curse," and yet promi- 
nence is evidently given to the gates on the East. 
This is developed still more clearly in the name 

75 



j(> THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

that was given to the first of these three gates on 
the East. As we have seen above the name of a 
Tribe of Israel was engraven on each gate, but 
strange to say, these are not given in the order 
in which Jacob named and blessed his Sons in 
the book of Genesis 49th Chapter 5th to 8th 
verses, Reuben, (first born), Simeon, Levi, 
Judah and so on. The order in naming the gates 
is no doubt the same as that given us in the 7th 
Chapter of Revelation 5th verse, where Judah 
comes first and then Reuben. The first gate on 
the east was named Judah as if forever to com- 
memorate that Gate from which the " Lion of the 
Tribe " issued when He went out to His great 
conflict with the Prince of Darkness in the Gar- 
den of Gethsemane. It is further significant 
when we remember the position of the tribe of 
Judah in the encampment in the wilderness, 
where this tribe was given the place of honor 
immediately at the eastern front of the Taber- 
nacle. Numbers 2d Chapter, 2d and 3d verses. 
Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch 
by his own standard, with the ensign of his 
father's house ; far off about the tabernacle of the 
congregation shall they pitch, and on the east side 
side toward the rising of the sim shall they of the 
standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout 
their armies," next comes Issacher and Zebulon, 
while Reuben leads the encampment on the south. 



OF EAST AND WEST yj 

Are these merely coincidences or suggestive 
facts ? 

It is remarkable with reference to the Holy 
places referred to in the scripture, that they have 
all now^ passed away. The Garden of Eden was 
followed by Bethel (House of God). Bethel 
gave place as a distinctly holy place to the Taber- 
nacle, the Tabernacle to the Temple at Jerusa- 
lem; and Canaan as the Holy Land, and Jerusa- 
lem as the Holy City have ceased to be, except 
as glorious reminders of a wonderful past. 
Neither of these last mentioned even belong to 
the chosen people of God. Their significance as 
Holy Places has " vanished away " in the expres- 
sive language of the author of Hebrews, and 
they are now interesting only as they suggest to 
those who visit them, the names and scenes and 
activity of by-gone spiritual giants, Adam, Abel, 
Abraham, Moses and Aaron, Joshua, David and 
David's greater Son. And yet it is very singular 
to find in the description of the Seer of Patmos 
of '' The New Jerusalem " something that re- 
minds us of each of these places, as though it was 
designed to give us a blending and combined 
reminiscence of all the holy places of the past, 
and thus to emphasize their reality and impor- 
tance. The Garden of Eden is brought back 
very vividly as described in Genesis, by these 
words of Revelation, 22d Chapter 2d verse " In 
the midst of the street of it, and on either side 



/S THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

of the river, was the tree of hfe, which bare 
twelve manner of fruits and yielded her fruit 
every month; and the leaves of the tree were for 
the healing of the nations; and there shall be no 
more curse," even the angels that guard each 
gate remind us of the watchful Cherubim at the 
eastern Gate of Eden, but they are now relieved 
of all terror by the assurance " Blessed are they 
that do His commandment, that they may have 
right to the tree of life and may enter through the 
gates into the city." We are reminded of 
Bethel and Jacob's vision there, by the many an- 
gels with their various messages " ascending and 
descending " connecting heaven and earth as by 
a celestial ladder. The Tabernacle and the 
Temple, which were fashioned by ]\Ioses accord- 
ing to " all things show him in the ]\Iount " are 
represented by the " altar," and the " smoke of 
the incense " and " the seven trumpets," " the 
tabernacle of testimony " the seven golden candle- 
sticks, the cherubim and " the Lamb that w^as 
slain." Canaan is brought vividly to our recol- 
lection by the numbering of the twelve tribes and 
their names engraven upon the gates, and the 
Jerusalem of earth which as we have suggested 
Avas the culmination of the Holy places so far as 
this world is concerned; now fades away into 
this glorious description of the New Jerusalem 
in which there is " no temple ; for the Lord God 
Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it. 



OF EAST AND WEST 79 

and the city hath no need of the Sun, neither of 
the moon to shine in it ; for the glory of God did 
Hghten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof. 
And the nations of them that are saved shall walk 
in the light of it; and the Kings of the earth do 
bring their glory into it." 

Surely no unprejudiced mind, Jew or Gentile, 
can follow the line of this development from the 
Garden of Eden, on through nearly four thou- 
sand years to the vision on Patmos ; and now for 
nearly nineteen hundred years of the progress of 
Christianity in the direction these foreshadow- 
ings indicate, without being impressed with the 
evidence of design; and convinced that the Holy 
Scriptures are indeed no "' cunningly devised 
fable," but as they claim to be the " word of 
God " and that " Holy men of old spoke as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost." Scientists 
agree that historical facts are good evidence, 
what will they do with these historic facts? If 
they reply Eden is not an historic fact, how will 
they explain the account we have of the eastern 
entrances, in connection with historical facts that 
cannot be denied, vouched for in secular history 
as well as sacred ; namely, with Bethel, the Taber- 
nacle, the Temple Jerusalem and Canaan ? What 
too will the advocates of *' Higher criticism," and 
those so-called liberal Christians, who believe the 
Garden of Eden to have been a myth, do w^ith this 
connected religious foreshadowing running 



8o THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

through the five books of ]\Ioses, and forming an 
indissoluble part of every page from Genesis to 
the last chapter in John's gospel; completed in 
the *^ Sun of Righteousness," who is carrying out 
the symbolism before our eyes in these latter days 
in exact accordance with what is written from the 
beginning of Acts to the beginning of the Reve- 
lation ? 

What a significance is given to the Resurrec- 
tion and the Ascension of our Lord, a doctrine 
made so prominent by the early apostles when 
we look upon them as the connecting links, be- 
tween the City of David, as the culmination of 
the holy places of the past; and the holy Jerusa- 
lem to which our Lord ascended in the presence 
of the disciples from Olivet; making the Holy 
Scriptures a consistent whole showing that a 
^' new and living way " has been indeed opened 
and " we are come unto Mount Zion, and unto 
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusa- 
lem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
to the general assembly and church of the first 
body who are enrolled in heaven and to God 
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men 
made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of a new 
covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that 
speaketh better than that of Abel." 

Revelation 14, 6. 

" And I saw another Angel fly in the midst of heaven, 
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that 



OF EAST AND WEST 8i 

dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, 
and tongue, and people." 

O'er the gloomy hills of darkness, 

Cheered by no celestial ray, 
Sun of Righteousness arising. 

Bring the bright, the glorious day, 
Send the gospel 
To the earth's remotest bound. 



Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness 
Grant them Lord! the glorious light: 

And, from eastern coast to western, 
May the morning chase the night ; 
And redemption 

Freely purchased, win the day. 



Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel ! 
Win and conquer, never cease, 
May thy lasting, wide dominions 
Multiply and still increase ; 
Sway thy scepter, 
Savior! all the world around. 

William Williams, 
A. D. 1791. 



CHAPTER EIGHT 

THE WHITE STONE AND THE NEW NAME WRITTEN 

Revelation 2, 17. 

" To him that overcometh to him will I give of the 
hidden manna. 

" And I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone 
a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that 
receiveth it." 



83 



CHAPTER EIGHT 

THE WHITE STONE AND THE NEW NAME 
WRITTEN 

A PERIODICAL not long since published the 
following account of an important discov- 
ery. A farmer in one of the Dutch settle- 
ments of southern Africa chose, some forty years 
ago, for the passage of scripture at family wor- 
ship the chapter in Revelation where this passage 
occurs. Revelation 2, 17. " To him that over- 
cometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, 
and I will give him a white stone, and upon the 
stone a new name written, which no one knoweth, 
but he that receiveth it." A guest from a distant 
part of the country, when worship was concluded, 
remarked that the " white stone " in the passage 
that was read, reminded him of the stones his 
children played with at home, that they found on 
the banks of a stream nearby; and drawing one 
from his pocket showed it to his host and famity. 
Another guest present, who was an expert on 
precious stones, at once pronounced it a valuable 
diamond, and within thirty days from that time 
three thousand persons were searching for these 

85 



86 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

precious stones in what has since proven to be 
the most extensive diamond mines in the world. 

The incident is interesting as to the sugges- 
tion, in so indirect a way of the similarity of the 
two terms, a " white stone " and a diamond. We 
see at once however how appropriate the compar- 
ison is, as light is white and a diamond is even 
scientifically considered chrystalized carbon, or 
light. Did the risen Lord when He talked with 
. John in beatific vision have a diamond in His 
"^ thought ? — Yea, even a particular diamond 

The connection in which the gift occurs is very 
suggestive. " To him will I give of the hidden 
manna." Manna we always very naturally asso- 
ciate with the journey of the Children of Israel 
in the wilderness. It came down like round par- 
ticles of frost from heaven every morning, ex- 
cept the morning of the Sabbath. But this daily 
blessing could not in any sense be called " hid- 
den " manna, seeing that it was openly visible to 
millions of people, who depended upon it as the 
" staft* of life." As a memorial of this great 
gift, however, Moses was commanded to fill a 
vessel with it and either to place it within, or in 
some receptacle on the outside, of the Ark of the 
Covenant in the Holy of Holies. 

Exodus i6, 55 and 5^. 

" And Moses said unto Aaron, take a pot, and 
put an omerful of manna therein, and lay it up 



OF EAST AND WEST 87 

before the Lord, to be kept for your generations. 
As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid 
it up before the Testimony, to be kept." Now 
no one was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies ^ 
where this '' hidden manna " was kept, but the 
High Priest, and he but once a year, when he 
came in an appointed way bringing with him the 
blood of the sacrifice. This manna could be very 
properly called " hidden." It was visible to no 
one but the High Priest, and absolutely hidden 
from all Israel. The promise of our Savior then 
appears to be, so far as this gift of " hidden 
manna " is concerned, that His people who re- 
main faithful will be permitted to enter the Holy 
of Holies above ; of which that in the Tabernacle 
was but the shadow; through their union with 
their Great High Priest, who has not only 
passed into the heavens Himself but made a way 
for them also. 

Hebrezvs p, 24. 

" For Christ entered not into a hoi}'" place, 
made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but 
into heaven itself, now to appear before the face 
of God for us." The manna may symbolize the 
provision made in heaven for sustaining the 
spiritual strength of His people, just as the 
manna in the wilderness sustained the bodily 
strength of all who partook of it. It implied 
also that they have full access into the very Holy 



88 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

of Holies in heaven, much more free than the 
access of Aaron when the Tabernacle was stand- 
ing; for they are permitted to be there contin- 
ually. The train of thought, then, in which the 
'' white stone " occurs is evidently in connection 
with the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle and 
the Temple. 

Another duty of the High Priest was to inquire 
of the Lord before the veil that separated the 
Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. When he 
did this, he must be arrayed in a peculiar way, 
for while there were three articles of his dress 
that were like the dress of the priests, who as- 
sisted him, he wore three articles that belonged to 
him as High Priest alone; and that could not 
be worn by any other. First, there was the 
Ephod — that is two onyx stones set in gold and 
attached to blue and purple fine twined linen and 
worn one on each shoulder. Six names of the 
Tribes were engraven on one stone and six on 
the other. Second, The Robe, made entirely of 
blue fine twined linen, and fitting his body closely 
descending to his knees ; and Third, what we are 
especially interested in at this time: a breast- 
plate. This was also of blue and purple, and had 
attached to it, in some way, twelve precious 
stones, arranged in four rows and set in gold. 
On each of these stones the name of one of the 
tribes of Israel was engraved. 



OF EAST AND WEST 89 

Exodus 28j 21. 

'* And the . stones shall be according to the 
names of the Children of Israel, twelve, accord- 
ing to their names; like the engraving of a sig- 
net, every one according to his name, they shall 
be for the twelve tribes." The High Priest not 
only represented Jehovah in the eyes of Israel; 
in the eyes of Jehovah, he represented the people ; 
and bore, as it were, the twelve tribes on his 
shoulders when he went to inquire of Jehovah, as 
to His will; and bore them upon his breast as 
well. Now our Savior seems to promise that 
those who " overcome " shall stand in the pres- 
ence of Jehovah on high. They shall have what 
was symbolized by this breast plate of the High 
Priest; but instead of twelve stones there will be 
but one and it shall be a zuhite stone. Now can 
we discover the white stone in the High Priest's 
breastplate, and the name upon it ? 

Exodus 5p, 8 and 14. 

" And he made the breastplate of cunning 
work, like the work of the Ephod; of gold, blue, 
and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen. It 
was four square; they made the breastplate 
double, a span was the length thereof, and a span 
the breadth thereof, being doubled. And they 
set in it four rows of stones. The first row was 
a sardius, a topaz and a carbuncle; this was the 



/ 



90 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

first row; and the second row, an emerald, a 
sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row a 
ligure, an agate, and an amethyst; and the 
fourth row, a beryl, an onyx and a jasper, these 
were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings. 
And the stones were according to the names of 
the Children of Israel, twelve, according to their 
names; like the engraving of a signet, every one 
according to his name, for the twelve tribes." 
Now what is the correct list of the twelve tribes 
by seniority? Jacob himself gives it in the day 
that he blessed them and prophetically disclosed 
the characteristics of each. It is in the 49th Chap- 
ter of Genesis, and this is the order : Reuben, Si- 
meon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, 
Asher, Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin. Or to 
carry out the idea of the breast plate, and ob- 
serving the order given, and writing the names 
from right to left according to Hebrew writing, 
we have the result shown on page 91. 

The Diamond had engraven upon it the name 
r*' of Judah, of whom Jacob says in prophetic ut- 
terance : 

Genesis 4p, 8 and 10. 

"Judah thee shall thy brethren praise; 
Thy hand shall be upon the neck of thine enemies ; 
Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee. 
Judah is a lion's whelp ; 
From the prey, my son, thou art gone up; 
He stooped down, he couched as a lion. 



OF EAST AND WEST 91 

Levi Simeon Reuben 

















Sardius Topaz Carbuncle 
Issachar Zebulun Judah 
















Emerald Sapphir 
Asher Gad 


e Diamond 
Dan 
















Ligure Agate 
Benjamin Joseph 


Amethyst 
Naphtali 

















Beryl 



Onyx 



Jasper 



And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? 

The scripture shall not depart from Judah, 

Nor the rulers' staff from between his feet, 

Until Shiloh come; 

And unto him shall the obedience of the people be." 

And answering back through all the ages is 
the voice from amidst the throng on high as John 
heard it on the isle of Patmos. Revelation 5, 
3 and 5. 

'* And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, 
or under the earth, v/as able to open the book, 



92 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

or to look thereon. And I wept much, because 
no one was found worthy to open the book, 
or to look thereon; and one of the elders saith 
unto me, ' Weep not ; behold the Lion that is 
of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath 
overcome to open the book, and the seven seals 
thereof.' " May we not then believe that, as 
the manna symbolized the constant supply of 
spiritual strength His people will receive in 
heaven, so this most precious of all stones, symibol 
-" of , light, itself (^rystalized light, scientifically 

^ chrystalized carbon, typifies the spiritual illumina- 

V tion His people will receive, and the " new name " 

written upon it the way in which they are per- 
mitted at all times to approach into the presence 
of Jehovah Himself? 

BUT WHAT IS THE NAME THAT WILL 
TAKE THE PLACE OF THE NAME OF 
JUDAH? 

The names, Lord, Jesus, Christ, are of course 
Hebrew in their origin, and like all Hebrew 
names are significant. The Old Testament 
abounds in illustrations of this fact. The very 
first name Adam — " out of the earth." Call 
him Moses said Pharaoh's daughter, " because 
I drew him out of the water." Samuel, " asked 
of the Lord." It is generally admitted that the 
three names or titles of our Lord represent the 



OF EAST AND WEST 93 

three offices He executes as the Redeemer of 
His people. Christ our Prophet, to teach us, 
and to reveal the will of God for our Salvation, 
although v^e cannot, of course, dissociate any of 
these titles from His work, as God-man, Me- 
diator; yet as He appeared among men, and as 
men recognized Him, as a man, or as a prophet, 
or as King, we may also thus recognize Him. 
Jesus, as the angel who brought His name said : 
Call Him Jesus, for He shall save His people 
from their sins." But He did this by offering 
Himself, High Priest and sacrifice in one, so 
Jesus represents to us His High Priestly office. 
Lord, representing His Kingly office, ruling in 
and reigning over all His people. Not merely 
this, but owner, master, disposer. Now very 
appropriately we find these three titles used to- 
gether, generally, after His resurrection, and 
when He became all these things to His church 
by actual fulfillment. But it is quite interesting 
to observe that we never do find them connected 
together in the gospels, or even any two of them, 
except in the title of Matthew's gospel. It is 
either Jesus alone, or Lord alone, or Christ alone. 
It is also remarkable that among the many names 
given Him in the Old Testament, such as " Lion 
of the tribe of Judah," " Shiloh," "stem of 
Jesse," " wonderful," " counsellor," " Prince of 
Peace," neither Jesus nor Christ is mentioned. 
Perhaps this is to be accounted for by the fact 



94 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

that Jesus was the name by which He was to be 
known as a " man among men." Christ was His 
title as the Messiah and was not given until He 
came. We must however except the title Lord, 
for we have our Savior's own endorsement of a 
Messianic Psalm in w4iich it was used. 

Luke 20, 41 and 44. 

" And he said unto them, How say they that 
the Christ is David's son? For David himself 
saith in the book of Psalms : 

The Lord said to my Lord, 
Sit thou on my right hand, 
Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy 
feet. 

David therefore calleth him Lord, and how is 
he His son?" The title *' son of David," car- 
ried with it the idea of a King, — but Lord still 
more so, so that we are warranted in considering 
our Savior's title Lord, as meaning King, in- 
cluding owner, master and disposer, and we shall 
always use it in this sense. 

Let us now take up the names of our Lord in 
the order given by Paul in his letter to the Co- 
rinthians in the old version, First Corinthians, i 
and 2, " with all that in every place call upon 
the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs 
and ours." These names being significant, 
should be used appropriately if the persons who 



OF EAST AND WEST 95 

used them vinderstood their meaning. If we find 
them so used we have an indirect proof that the 
scriptures are what they profess to be: a history 
of current events in the hfe of one who trod this 
earth of ours, a " man among men," and who yet 
spake as man never spake, and wilHngly and in- 
telligently offered Himself a sacrifice for human 
guilt. Claiming to fulfill in Himself ancient types 
and prophecies, which may be summed up in 
these three, a High Priest, like Aaron ; a Prophet, 
like Moses; a King, like David. We will con- 
sider the gospels first. 

Jesus : 

Matthew i, 21, 

" And thou shalt call his name Jesus, for it is 
He that shall save His people from their sins." 
Jesus is here expressly given to be the name by 
which He should be known by His Mother, and 
the members of His household, and among men, 
as He took His place in the discharge of the 
active duties of life, and yet it carries with it 
the significance of a Savior, a human Savior, 
who took our place; but this does not prevent 
Him from being as He really is also a Divine 
Savior. Notice as something quite remarkable 
that this was the only name by which our Sa- 
vior was known for thirty years of His life. 
We have the record only up to the time He was 



96 THE BIBLE SIGXIFICAXCE 

tvrelve during this period, and there is certainly 
no mention of Christ or Lord in connection with 
these years. 

Matthew i, 2j. 

"And he (i. e. Joseph) called His name Je- 
sus/' 

Luke 2, j2. 

And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, 
and in favor with God and men. 

Luke 2, ^?. 

'' And when they had fulfilled the day, as they 
were returning, the boy Jesus, tarried behind in 
Jerusalem." And with this well known inci- 
dent at the temple, when our Savior was twelve, 
His history closes until He was thirty. But 
when He comes after these years of quiet, humble 
living in Xazareth, to enter upon His public 
ministry this name Jesus is once more brought 
forAvard. 

Matthew ^, Jj. 

" Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jor- 
dan unto John to be baptized of him."' 

Mark I, p. 

" Jesus came from Xazareth of Galilee and 
was baptized of John in Jordan." This was the 
name then bv which He was known all these 



OF EAST AND WEST 97 

years in Nazareth. Not as the Christ for He 
had not yet made known His message or claimed 
the office of Messiah; not Lord, for He was not 
yet ready to claim His Kingship. But His of- 
fice of Savior is the essential thing, and this is 
always associated with His humanity. He recog- 
nized His place as our substitute under the Law, 
by consenting to a public baptism, but if any 
name was used in this service to designate Him, 
as with us, it was His human name Jesus. So" 
the record is: 

Luke 5^ 21, 

" Now it came to pass, when all the people 
were baptized, that, Jesus also having been bap- 
tized and praying, the heaven was opened and 
the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily form, as 
a dove, upon Him, and a voice came out of 
heaven, * Thou art my beloved Son ; in Thee, I 
am well pleased.' " 

What a comforting thought that this approval 
came upon the man Jesus, " bone of our bone and 
flesh of our flesh;" our Savior from sin; and 
John so points Him out the next day: 

John I, 2Q. 

"On the morrow he (i. e. John the Baptist) 
seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, ' Be- 
hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
sin of the world.' " When our Savior was 
tempted, it was as Jesus. 



98 THE BIBLE SIGXIFICANCE 

Matthew 4, i. 

*' Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into 
the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." 

Luke 4, 4. 

" And Jesus answered unto him, ' It is written, 

Man shall not live by bread alone.' " 

Luke 4, 14. 

" And Jesus returned in the power of the 
spirit into Galilee.'' This was after His victory. 
But observe that there is no mention by either 
^Matthew or Luke, that it was Christ that was 
tempted, or the Lord : although as we have said, 
Hd was always both Lord and Christ as He now 
is ; yet in this narrative there is a consistent 
reference to the fact that He was tempted in the 
human form indicated by His human Xame. It 
was Jesus who repulsed Satan; and who all His 
life " was tempted like as we are yet without 
sin." But while Christ represents no doubt, the 
prophetic office of our Savior, it is reserved for 
the apostles to use this term with reference to 
His teachings. For the most part, any reference 
to our Savior where He was Himself on earth, 
either to His teachings or miracles, is in the 
name of Jesus. And this seems the natural way 
to express it. Because He had left His carpen- 
ter's bench, and had become a Rabbi, was no 



OF EAST AND WEST 99 

reason why He should not still be known as 
Jesus of Nazareth. 

Matthew 4, ly, 

" From that time began Jesus to preach, and 
to say * Repent ye ; for the Kingdom of heaven 
is at hand.' " 

Matthew 7, 28 and ^p. 

" And it came to pass, when Jesus ended these 
words, the multitudes were astonished at His 
teaching, for He taught them as one having 
authority and not as the scribes." In this name 
He wrought miracles. 

John 2, II. 

" This beginning of His signs (referring to the 
miracle of turning water into wine) did Jesus 
in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory." 
So all the writers without exception refer to all 
miracles as not having been wrought by the Lord 
or by Christ, but by Jesus. But Jesus also for- 
gave sins, as the son of Man. 



Matthew p, 2. 

" And Jesus seeing their faith, said unto the 
sick of the palsy, ' Son be of good cheer ; thy 
sins are forgiven.' " As a sympathizing Savior, 
He is also thus known: 

tOFC 



lOO THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

Luke i8, i6. 
" But Jesus called them unto Him, saying 

* Suffer the little children to come unto me and 
forbid them not.' " 

John II, ji. 
Jesus Wept. 

But above all as our Savior, in His office of 
High Priest, He suffered in this name. 

Matthew 26, 36. 

" Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place 
called Gethsemane, and saith unto His disciples, 

* Sit ye here, while I go yonder and pray.' " 

Matthew 26, 4. 

" And they took counsel together that they 
might take Jesus by subtilty and kill Him." 

Matthew 26, ^0. 

" Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and 
took Him." 

Mark I J, 75. 

" And Pilate wishing to content the multitude, 
released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus 
when He had scourged Him to be crucified." 

John IQ, 18. 

" Where they crucified Him and with Him two 
others, on either side one, and Jesus in the 
midst." 



OF EAST AND WEST loi 

Luke 2^, 4. 

" And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, 
He said, * Father into Thy hands I commend my 
spirit.' " Surely this dwelling upon His human 
name, was no fortuitous circumstance. No ref- 
erence to the Messiah, no reference to Him, as 
King, except indeed in the superscription on His 
cross, conceived by a Roman Governor, and even 
this is in connection with Jesus of Nazareth. 
It was as a human Savior He suffered in our 
place. But it was Jesus also who rose from the 
dead. 

John 20, 12. 

" And she (i. e. Mary) beholdeth two angels 
in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the 
feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." 

Acts ly, 18. 

Paul on Mars Hill — " Because he preached 
Jesus and the Resurrection." 

Romans 8, 11. 

" But if the spirit of Him that raised up Jesus 
from the dead." 

I Thess. 4, 14. 

" For if we believe that Jesus died and rose 
again, even so them also that are fallen asleep 
in Jesus will God bring with Him." Surely we 
are ready to exclaim, 



102 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

" How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 
In a believer's ear, 
It soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds 
And drives away his fear." 

Newton. 

Christ: 

It is quite remarkable, that as the human 
name of our Savior, was first announced by an 
angel from heaven ; so the other titles, " Christ 
and Lord " were first announced by angels. This 
does not imply that the Jews were not familiar 
with these names, but that the angels were the 
first to use them with reference to a particular 
person. 

Luke 2 J II. 

" For there is born to you this day in the city 
of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" 
The name Christ, however is always significantly 
used. A Messiah was the hope of Israel ; " for 
which prophets and Kings had waited long but 
died without the sight." 

Matthew 2, 4. 

" And gathering together all the chief priests 
and scribes of the people, he (i. e. Herod) in- 
quired of them where the Christ should be born," 
— observe not Jesus but the Christ. Devils 
knew Him, not as Jesus, but as Christ. 



OF EAST AND WEST 103 

Luke 4, 41, 

" And rebuking them (that is the devils) He 
suffered them not to speak, because they knew 
He was the Christ." The High Priest adjured 
Him when He was being tried for His Hfe. 

Matthew 26, 63. 

" I adjure thee by the Hving God, that thou 
tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of 
God." 

The rabble evidently associated the idea of a 
Prophet, with this title for they said : 

Matthew 26, 68. 

" Prophesy unto us, thou Christ ; who is it 
struck Thee?" and John in closing his gospel 
says : 

John 20, J J. 

" But these are written, that ye may believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and 
that believing, ye may have life through His 
name." Our Savior Himself uses the title, or 
rather explains it as the counterpart of Rabbi — 
Teacher.. 

Matthew 23, 8. 

" Neither be ye called Master, (or Rabbi) ; for 
one is your master (or Rabbi, teacher), even the 



I04 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

Christ." It is noteworthy that when the apostles 
went forth to preach to men, their subject, was 
the great teacher, Christ. It is even more used 
than Jesus; most frequently it is Christ Jesus; 
and again Jesus Christ, our Lord. They 
preached a promised Messiah, who according to 
promise had indeed come, and so we have nu- 
merous references. 

Romans 5, 6. 
" In due season Christ died for the ungodly." 

Romans 6, 8. 

" Now if we be dead with Christ/* 

Romans 8, 10. 

" And if Christ is in you, the body is dead be- 
cause of sin." 

Romans 8, ij. 
" Joint heirs with Christ/' 

Romans 8, jj. 

" Who shall separate us from the love of 
Christ? " 

Romans 10, 4. 

" For Christ is the end of the Law unto right- 
eousness to every one that believeth." 

I Corinthians 15, 12, 

" Now if Christ be preached." 



OF EAST AND WEST 105 

But we need not multiply illustrations, a very 
cursory examination will show that as Jesus 
is the prominent name in the gospels, where the 
object, evidently is to give us a history of our 
Great High Priest as He lived and died for us, 
so in the writings of the apostles, as we know 
was the case in all their discourse, Christ was 
the great theme. Many of the adherents of the 
old church were Jews, and would be more in love 
with this aspect of the gospel, not only as the 
source of all their joy, but as the fulfillment of 
all their hopes as children of Abraham. The 
apostles themselves were all Jews. But in this 
they followed also the example of our Lord Him- 
self, for after His resurrection, the first discourse 
He uttered, was directly in this line. This is 
the burden of His conversation with the two 
disciples as they walked to Emmaus. 

Luke 24, 2^ and ^/. 

" And He said unto them, * Oh, Foolish men, 
and slow of heart to believe in all that the 
prophets have spoken ! Behooved it not the Christ 
to suffer these things, and to enter into His 
glory ? ' And beginning at Moses and from all 
the prophets. He interpreted to them in all the 
scriptures the things concerning Himself." And 
so the early church were instructed to believe in 
a Christ already come, as the Old Testament 
Church had been trained in a Christ to come. 



io6 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

Hebrews p, 14 and 75. 

" How much more shall the blood of Christ, 
who through the eternal spirit offered Himself 
without blemish unto God, cleanse your con- 
science from dead works to serve the living God ? 
And for this cause He is the Mediator of the 
New Covenant,'' or New Testament. In the 
prominence given this title of our Lord, we have 
a sufficient reason, for a fact that has caused 
no little discussion, given us in Acts 11, 26. 
" The disciples were called Christians first in 
Antioch." Certainly this name was not given 
them by the Jews for they esteemed themselves 
the true Christites or Messiahites. The Jews 
always referred to the early Christians contempt- 
uously, as the ' Sect of the Nazarenes,' or 
the followers of Jesus of Nazareth." The name 
Christians was evidently given them by Gentiles 
who knew them as the followers of One who was 
known among them as Christ. Just as the 
Greeks took the name of their teacher, so they 
gave the name to those who behooved in the 
teachings of Christ. 

Lord: 
The remaining title we understand to mean 
Master, Disposer; and to include much of what 
we mean by Kingship. Certainly our Lord 
claimed to be a King and He expressly uses the 
title in connection with the claim, as we shall 



OF EAST AND WEST 107 

see. The first reference to it, as we have already 
stated is in the announcement of the angels to 
the wondering shepherds on the morning of the 
Advent. It is to be found only in a very few 
passages in any of the gospels, but it is very sig- 
nificantly used. 

We have already referred to His question to 
the Pharisees: 

" If David then called Him Lord, how is He 
his Son? " In this passage our Savior evidently 
claims to be Jehovah King. It is very significant 
that the use of this title of our Savior is almost 
confined to the discourses He uttered, and His 
acts, connected with the few weeks before He 
suffered, and the days after His resurrection and 
preceding His ascension. 

Luke 18, 6. 

" And the Lord said, Hear what the un- 
righteous Judge saith." He who shall be the 
King and Judge of all men, speaks of this as 
one who knows what righteous judgment is. 
But when Jesus was about to make His triumphal 
entry into Jerusalem we have the significant re- 
cord: 

Luke ip, J I. 

" And if any one ask you why do ye loose him 
(i. e. the colt) thus shall ye say * The Lord 
hath need of him.' " He did not say the prophet 
of Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth hath need of him, 



io8 THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

nor yet the Christ, the promised Messiah. He 
used His Kingly title, because He was about to 
claim before all men His Kingly prerogative. 
But it is especially after His resurrection, and 
during the days when He was upon earth after 
His resurrection, that this title is most generally 
given him. These were days of visible triumph. 
The King had overcome that great King of Ter- 
rors, who during four thousand years had kept 
the world in bondage " through fear of death." 
He had now risen, having broken the bars of the 
tomb, leading " captivity captive." What name 
so appropriate as Lord Jehovah King? 

Luke 24, ^4. 

" Saying the Lord is risen indeed, and hath 
appeared unto Simon." 

John 20, 20. 

" The disciples therefore were glad, when they 
saw the Lord." 

John 21, 7. 

" That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved, 
saith unto Peter, * It is the Lord.' So when 
Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord." 

John 21, i^. 

So in answer to the question of Jesus, Peter 
says " Yea, Lord." 



OF EAST AND WEST 109 

John 21, 21. 

" Peter therefore seeing him, Saith to Jesus. 
' Lord, what shall this man do? ' " 

So Thomas when his doubts were all removed 
said, " My Lord and my God/' So too the 
epistles are full of this rejoicing. 

2 Corinthians j, 18, 

" But we all with unveiled face reflecting as a 
mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed 
into the same image from glory to glory." Be- 
holding the King in His beauty. 

2 Timothy 4, 8. 

" Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown 
of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous 
judge shall give me at that day." Who can give 
crowns but the King? 

Lord Jesus Christ: 

It is quite significant that, the first time, these 
three titles are brought together was on the day 
of Pentecost, and this union occurs in Peter's 
sermon. 

Acts 2, j(5. 

" Let all the House of Israel, therefore know 
assuredly, that God hath made both Lord and 
Christ this Jesus whom ye crucified." The same 
Holy Spirit who guided Peter, led the apostles 
afterward to use the titles together frequently. 



mo THE BIBLE SIGNIFICANCE 

'' Lord Jesus Christ " are well known names, es- 
pecially in Paul's wTitings. But which of these 
titles are connected with the person of our Sa- 
vior in heaven ? Have w' e any suggestions given 
in the appearances of our Lord after His ascen- 
sion, or in the vision of the .Beloved disciple on 
Patmos? Jesus is evidently one of these names, 
as is shown from the following passages : 

Acts 9, 5. 

Our Savior uses this name when He appears 
to Saul on the way to Damascus. " And he (i. 
e. Saul) said, * Who art thou Lord?' And He 
said, * I am Jesus whom thou persecuted/ " So 
also when Ananias came to comfort and teach 
Saul ; " And laying his hands on him said, 
* Brother Saul, the Lord even Jesus, who ap- 
peared unto thee in the way which thou comest 
hath sent me.' " 

Revelation 22, 16. 

" I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto 
you these things in the churches." Jesus then 
is certainly one of the names by which our 
Savior is known in heaven. But Lord is also 
a title known there. 

Acts 8, p. 

" And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by 
a vision, * Be not afraid but speak and hold not 
thy peace.' " Our Savior says to John: 



OF EAST AND WEST in 

Revelation i, 8. 

" ' I am the Alpha and the Omega/ saith the 
Lord God, ^ which is and which was, and which 
is to come, the Ahnighty.' " 

Revelation 4, 11, 

The Saints in glory cry '' Worthy art Thou, 
our Lord and God." 

Revelation i^, 4- 

" Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy 
name ? " 

Revelation ij, 14. 

" For He is Lord of Lords and King of 
Kings." These two titles are also used together, 
that is Lord Jesus where our Savior is referred 
to after His ascension. 

Acts 7, 59. 

" And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the 
Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit." 

2 Thess. I, y. 

" At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from 
heaven with the angelr of His power." The 
very last reference on the name is very signifi- 
cant. 

Revelation 22, 20. 

" He which testified these things saith, * Yes ; 
I come quickly — Amen. Come, Lord Jesus ! * " 



112 THE BIBLE SIGXIFICAXCE 

These two names also have a special significance 
when we remember the two symbols with refer- 
ence to our Lord Jesus, as given in Revelation 
5, 6. "' And I saw in the midst of the throne 
and of the four living creatures, and in the midst 
of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had 
been slain." Now a Throne is always a S}Tnbol 
of kingly authority, and answers to the title Lord ; 
while the slain Lamb always typifies, Jesus, our 
great High Priest. These are the only two of 
the titles that are used by our Savior Himself, or 
by John in heavenly vision concerning Him. 
The title Christ is used twice, but in both in- 
stances in connection with the earth, not heaven ; 
that is with the mysterious '*' thousand years " 
commonly known as the Millennium. 

Re-j elation 20, 4. 

" And they lived and reigned with Christ a 
thousand years." From what we have been con- 
sidering as to the meaning of our Lord's title as 
King, does it not almost necessarily follow^ that 
the thousand years cannot mean a personal reign 
when it says, that they reigned with Christ and 
not with the Lord Jesus? In the final end of 
all things, He will reign in person, and John 
means this, when he says " Even so come, come 
quickly. Lord Jesus." To reign with Christ 
would mean to be united with Him in His teach- 
ing office and would carry the idea that for a 



OF EAST AND WEST 113 

thousand years His truth will be triumphant in 
the hearts of men. 

In view of the foregoing, it seems quite certain 
that the " New name written'^ which is of course 
a symbol, like the stone itself, on the Diamond 
of the Breast plate, in the place of the old name 
" Judah," contains at least these two titles " Lord 
j Jesus." Observe how significantly the order of 
these titles is changed. On earth, as used by 
Paul and others, it is for the most part Jesus 
Christ our Lord, the kingly title last, but in 
heaven it becomes Lord Jesus, the Jehovah king- 
ship being put first. The Redeemed in glory in 
using these two names, remind us of Paul's for- 
mula for confessing Christ: 

Romans 10, p. 

" If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as 
Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God 
raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 
But in view of the fact that the " white stone " 
is given to the victorious ones, " he that over- 
cometh " perhaps we are warranted in saying that 
all these titles are included in the " New Name 
Written," for will not the Apostle Paul's as- 
cription of thanks for victory, which will now 
be seen to include much more than even he com- 
prehended, be voiced by the Redeemed through- 
out all the ages to come ? " Thanks be to God, 
which giveth us the victory through our 

Lord Jesus Christ! " 



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